Message from the Conductor

Dear Friends of the GSO,I am very much looking forward to working with the orchestra to prepare this special concert, “Flutes and Flourishes”.  The concert opens with Dmitri Shostakovich’s exciting “Festive Overture”.  We will present this work with the additional balcony-brass parts that Shostakovich wrote but which rarely get performed.  I am thrilled to have musicians from the Buffalo Brass Choir, of which I am the director, join us for the concert.Next on the program is the Flute Concerto in G Major by Mozart, performed by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal flutist, Christine Bailey Davis.  Mozart was a master of the instrumental concerto form, and this particular work is no exception.Since the concert is on Valentine’s Day, the program continues with one movement of the “Petite Suite de Concert” by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: “Un sonnet d’amour” (a love song).  After that we will invite Ms. Davis back onto the stage for Franz Doppler’s “Andante and Rondo for Two Flutes”.  She will be joined by my lovely wife, flutist Miranda DelBello.The concert closes with a towering piece of the orchestral repertoire: Resphighi’s “The Pines of Rome”.  Resphighi wrote three tone poems dedicated to the Eternal City, and this one depicts pine trees in various locations throughout the city: pines near a village, near a tomb, on a large hill, and ending with the “Pines of the Appian Way”, where soldiers can be heard marching ever closer.  Again, musicians from the Buffalo Brass Choir will be performing the balcony-brass parts for this movement.My sincere thanks to the board and musicians of the GSO for this incredible opportunity.  I look forward to seeing you at the concert!Nick DelBello